Uber Frugal Challenge: Day 3

Today was the first day of winter quarter! The break was too short but I thrive when my days have a bit of structure. It was also sunny and it got up to 32 F, so the sidewalks should be a little bit safer tomorrow (I hope!)

Today's UFM info showed up in my inbox bright and early:

Today’s mantra: I have the willpower to wait!

Today’s action: Enact the 72 hour waiting period starting today and continuing for the rest of the month.

Catchy mantra, but doesn't sing to me like yesterday's ;) As for the 72 hour rule, I'm already on it! 

At the end of December I made a handy spreadsheet to track wants/needs, then opened up  the file access so everyone in the household could access it. We enter our name, the date, place the item in either the want/need category, list the going retail price, and then put in a date needed by. Wants need to be on the list for at least a week before we even consider them, then we look for second hand or screaming deals if we decide to go forward with it. Needs we do the same thing, but understand that there may be a deadline by which we will have to pay full price. Knowing the deadline upfront will hopefully give us enough time to find the cheapest retail outlet when necessary (for example, if ordering online is cheaper, we need time to have it shipped).

The trick, of course, for UFM and beyond is to actually stick to the list!